THE MICHIGAN DAILY
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER' i
THE MICHIAN DAILYTEuRSDAY.SEPT4TH.
CHIPS...
by Mike Block
Fullbacks Show Promise
How To Fill a Stadium
Now that 14,000 athletic coupons, and the football tickets that
go with them, have been sold to Michigan students, athletic ticket
manager Don Weir is left with the prospect of filling the remainder
of the Stadium's 101,001 seats for seven fall afternoons. In at least
six of those games, of courte, he won't come close to filling every
space, but the number of seats that are bought up will be proportional
to the future financial prosperity of the athletic department, and in
particular, that still-fuzzy dream, the new field house.
Even the traditional bi-annual Michigan State sellout may
not materialize this year, Weir indicates. "However, school hav-
ing started two weeks early this year, we still have quite a few
weeks to go before the MSU game," he qualified. "'But I can
remember the time when those things were sold out by July."
However, there is also a good argument that the Stadium will
be packed for the Spartans' visit this time around, even if it is done
at the last minute (i.e., gate sales) as was the case in 1961. If the
Wolverines can knock off Southern Methodist in their first contest
and Navy in their second, these two victories, coupled with State's
annihilation by Southern California, could easily mean a crowd
of 101,001 come Oct. 12.
Natives Get Restless.*.
Let's face it-the majority of the patrons of an 'M'-MSU battle
don't just want to see a good game--they want to see the Spartans
get smashed. And if it looks as though the Maize and Blue can do
the job, the faithful will flock from all over the countryside to view
the spectacle.
The Michigan State game notwithstanding, experience has
shown that if you want a good season at the gate, it's imperative
that you, do well in the first few games. The 1962 season, which
was a disaster in attendance as well as gridiron success, is a
prime example of what happens when you don't start off on the
right foot.
In the opening game, almost 75,000 optimistic patrons and high
school band members cane into the Stadium expecting the Wolver-
ines to take their usual easy win over a non-conference foe, in this
case Nebraska. However, Thunder Thornton, Dennis Claridge, and
the rest of the Cornhuskers wouldn't comply, and Michigan's 25-13
loss helped to cause the Nebraska game attendance to be the largest
of the season, which is amazing, since Michigan entertained three
traditional rivals later in the season.
The attendance slid to 64,380 for the Army encounter, and the
victory over the Cadets was more than offset by two humiliating
shutuots on the road (by MSU and Purdue), so that the turnout for
the usually big Minnesota game rose anemically to 65,153. From then
on, things deteriorated to 52,240 for Wisconsin and 47,754 for Illinois.
True, the weather was bad for these latter two, but you'd think
they'd at least outdraw Nebraska.
So, from the ticket-selling point of view, all I can say is let's
beat SMU and Navy, and then worry about those monsters upstate.
By TOM ROWLAND
Wayne Sparkman, veteran full-
back who held the position for
most of the 1962 season, moved
back onto the first string offensive
unit this week after a good show-
ing in last Saturday's scrimmage.
He heads a delegation of three
that are currently in a fight for
the position-Mel Anthony and
Chuck Dehlin are now in back-up
up duty-which is bound to keep
the spot solid this fall.
"Sparkman, Anthony, and DehI-
in are in the forefront of the pier
ture right now," Hank Fonde, of-
fensive backfield coach, said yes-
terday.
"With the fullback shifting into
an interior linebacker position on
defense Dehlin and Anthony have
shown up better. But Sparkman
showed the best offensive play on
Saturday."
Tough Luck
Anthony had a tough-luck first
season in 1962. Picked for a prom-
ising year, he was slowed most of
the schedule by an early season
injury and only finally managed
to realize any potential in the lat-
ter stages of the fall. Anthony
carried 18 times in picking up 481
yards last year, playing in six
games.
The 6', 200-pound junior was
all-league, all-city, all-state, and
All-American playing high school
football in Cincinnati.
Sparkman is one of only nine
BEWARE:
Lightning
To Strike
Union Men
Football hopes on the Michigan
scene were dealt another crush-
ing blow yesterday when it was
announced that Stan (the Phan-
tum) Kukla may miss The Daily-
Union game one week from Friday.
I'
EXPERT SHOE REPAIRING
Quick Service available on Request
FILECCIA BROTHERS
H109 South University
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BATTED DOWN-Michigan's Wayne Sparkman (33) leaps to
knock a pass out of the hands of intended Illinois receiver Thur-
man Walker in last year's game. Sparkman has been named by
Wolverine Coach Bump Elliott as first string fullback on his
strong showing in last Saturday's scrimmage.
r
seniors on Bump Elliott's squad
this fall and has all the minutes
as the "old man" at the fullback
spot. He put in 236 minutes a year
ago, tops at the position, and com-
piled a 3.8 yard-per-carry aver-
age. Only 5'1" and 185 pounds,
Sparkman also nabbed two passes
last season for 22 yards.
Major League Standings
AMERICAN LEAGUE
W L Pct. GB
NATIONAL LEAGUE.
New York 96 51
Minnesota 83 64
Chicago 83 65
Baltimore 78 70
Detroit 72 75
x-Boston 70 77
Cleveland 70 79
Kansas City 67 79
x-Los Angeles 65 83
Washington 53 95
x-Playing night game.
.653 -
.565 13
.561 13 V2
.527 182
.490 24'
.476 25Y2
.469 27
.459 28/
.439 31
.358 43
Los Angeles
St. Louis
Milwaukee
San Francisco
Philadelphia
Cincinnati
Chicago
Pittsburgh
Houston
New York
w
88
86
80
78
76
78
74
69
54
49
L
57
61
67
68
70
72
72
76
92
97
Pct.
.607
.585
.544
.534
.521
.520
.507
.476
.370
.336
GB
3
9
101/
122
122
14 j
19
34/
39
YESTERDAY'S RESULTS
Boston at. Los Angeles (inc.)
Washington 6, Detroit 5 (10 inn.)
New York 8, Kansas City 2
Chicago 3, Baltimore 2
Minnesota 9, Cleveland 3
TODAY'S GAMES
New York at Kansas City
Boston at Los Angeles
Cleveland at Minnesota
(Only games scheduled)
YESTERDAY'S RESULTS
Los Angeles 9, Pittsburgh 4
St. Louis 4, Chicago 0
New York 4, San Francisco 2
Cincinnati 14, Milwaukee 3
Houston 4, Philadelphia 2
TODAY'S GAMES
Los Angeles at Pittsburgh (n)
Chicago at St. Louis
San Francisco at New York (n)
Houston at Philadelphia (n)
(Only games scheduled)
BADGERS, WILDCATS FAVORED:
Big Ten Hopes To Re-Gain Supremacy
-and for the first time in a long
while they may deserve it. A
speedy backfield may make up for
a Swiss cheese line that is missing
six starters from 1962.
Minnesota has one starter from
last year's runner-up team return-
ing and with only 16 lettermen the
outlook is gloomy up in Minnea-
polis. Iowa lost outstanding signal
caller Matt Szykowny and half-
back Larry Ferguson. Indiana is
not quite set to break out of the
lower division despite top all-
Hoosier back Mary Woodson.
-Tom Rowland
I
11
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11
rI
Next: Ohio State
B
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